Texas Toddler Was Smothered to Death by Mom’s Boyfriend, Who Staged Scene to Look Like Child Fell from Crib

A man who killed his girlfriend’s 2-year-old son while babysitting him at his Texas home has been found guilty of capital murder.

On Monday, following a nine-day trial, a jury found James Staley III, 40, guilty of murdering Wilder McDaniel in 2018, KAUZ reports.

The judge sentenced him to life in prison without parole.

As Staley was being handcuffed before being led out of the court, he yelled, “I did not kill Wilder McDaniel,” KAUZ reports.

The crime came to light on Oct. 11, 2018, when the toddler’s mother found him dead on the floor near his crib while he was staying at Staley’s $500,000 house in the country club area of Wichita Falls, Texas, according to KAUZ.

The boy’s mother, Amber McDaniel, was on a break from the boy’s father when she was dating Staley, the Times Record News reports. She had Staley babysit Wilder while she was at work at a bar, the paper reports.

After the boy’s death, Staley moved to Okmulgee, Okla., where he was arrested in Oct. 2020, the Times Record News reports. His arrest came after a grand jury indicted him for capital murder and first-degree felony murder in the boy’s death.

A Jan. 24, 2019, autopsy report said that the child’s death was likely homicidal from asphyxiation from a pillow, the Times Record News reports.

Dallas County medical examiners said in the autopsy report that blood on the boy’s pillow “suggests someone placed a pillow over the child’s mouth, ultimately smothering him,” KFDX reports.

“The scene information is irregular and highly suspicious of a homicidal death,” stated the autopsy report, according to KFDX. “There is no explanation provided for how [McDaniel] ended up on the floor and the apparently bloody items were still in the crib, or where the blood may have come from.

“[McDaniel] had no reported history of previously getting out of the crib and there were no fatal injuries present consistent with a fall from the crib to the floor having caused the death,” the autopsy report stated.

Authorities also said it looked like Staley staged the scene to look like an accident, the Times Record News reports.

The boy’s mother, McDaniel, told police about another concerning incident in August 2018 when Staley messaged her saying Wilder had fallen off the bed, the Times Record News reports.

Investigators recovered a video from Staley’s cell phone: In the video, Staley is talking to McDaniel while he is holding the little boy, who had bruises on his head, the Times Record News reports.

In the video, Staley says to the boy, “It is quite the shiner. . . . But you think I pushed you off the bed?”

When the boy says yes, Staley says, “That’s not what happened.”

Mother Arrested and Charged
In 2021, McDaniel was charged with one count of child abandonment and endangerment and one count of tampering with evidence, KFDX reports.

She allegedly allowed Staley to continue to have access to her son after Staley sent her multiple texts and Facebook messages saying he wanted to harm the boy, according to the indictment, KFDX reports.

In text messages investigators found after unlocking Staley’s phone, Staley that he wanted to beat or punch the boy, and had beaten or punched him, the indictment says

In other messages he said had pushed the boy’s face in a dirty diaper and then pushed his face in the toilet, and also said he wanted to or had put Wilder into a tinderbox, according to the indictment.

“Staley repeatedly communicated violence and hatred toward” the boy, including “that he believed Jason Wilder McDaniel needed to be ‘culled,'” the indictment said.

“Despite the foregoing warnings,” McDaniel “continued to entrust” Staley to babysit her son, who also stayed at his house “while she was asleep and/or drunk in the other room,” the indictment alleges.

The indictment also alleges that after she saw bruises on Wilder’s face after Staley had watched him, she still let Staley have access to her son, KFDX reports.

She has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Attorneys for McDaniel and Staley did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment